HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Marlene Torres sometimes must choose between paying a bill or paying for phone calls that allow her 12-year-old foster son to talk to his father in prison.
1 / 3FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2017 file photo, inmate Lance Shaver talks on the phone at the Albany County Correctional Facility in Albany, N.Y. Connecticut is considering legislation which would make phone calls from prison free to inmates.
"Is the punishment from prison supposed to be that you are now completely severed from society, an outcast?" said state Rep. Josh Elliott, a Hamden Democrat who introduced the legislation."Because those are the seeds that we are planting by making this so expensive for people to stay in touch with event their families."
The state's Judicial Branch and Department of Correction have not taken official positions on the legislation, but judicial officials submitted written testimony to lawmakers saying it does not have funding to replace the $5.5 million it receives each year from the phone call fund for probation programs. The Department of Correction also receives money for its education and re-entry programs.
Inmates or their families must set up an account with a minimum of $20 to prepay for calls. Torres said she can afford about $10 a week. "The calls we facilitate are supported by extensive monitoring and investigatory tools that prevent them from being used to harass a victim or plan a crime, creating costs far beyond what is involved in a traditional call made outside of a prison environment," she said.
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